The latest batch of Dark Knight Rises rumors reveal the secret to Bane's success, how Catwoman's arc mirrors that of one of Batman's oldest foes, and which supporting character takes on a starring role in Christopher Nolan's final Batman movie.

Meanwhile, the new Star Trek movie may have chosen not one but two iconic villains...and one of them is about as bizarre and unexpected a choice as we could ever imagine. Plus we may know two key new locations for the film, including a new planet. Of course, all this assumes we can trust these latest spoilers... can't we?

There's plenty more spoilers where that came from!

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Top image from The Dark Knight Rises.

The Dark Knight Rises

A New York set reporter claims to have gleaned a bunch of scoops from various things seen and overheard during the recent filming. There's an insane amount of stuff he's claiming to have uncovered, but let's run through some highlights.

First of all, Bane is "a successful villain" who comes to Gotham with a plan that he executes flawlessly, ruthlessly stopping anyone who might oppose him. He's also "tactical", "smart", but "has a short fuse" that causes him to resort to "drastic measures" when Batman starts to beat him.

The gigantic device spotted during the New York filming is in fact a bomb that destroys a huge part of "Gotham State" — not sure if that's a typo, a reference to a local university, or the state that Gotham City is located in. The device "cripples" Gotham City and strikes so much fear into law enforcement there and elsewhere that Bane is able to assume control of the entire city, reverting Gotham to the hellish place it was before Batman Begins.

Catwoman's arc is meant to mirror Joe Chill's, in that she is completely desperate and so resorts to a life of crime. She apparently faces a crucial moment where "she has to decide whether to let her desperation get to her like Chill or to use her desperation for something else", which presumably is the moment where she chooses to be a hero or a villain.

Commissioner Gordon's role in this movie is even larger than his part in The Dark Knight, and the reporter compares it to Palpatine's part in Revenge of the Sith compared to the other prequels. That seems like a kind of weird comparison to make unless he's implying Gordon is going to suddenly reveal he's the real Ra's al Ghul or something... which would be completely ludicrous but also pretty badass, since it would make Gary Oldman the villain, which is pretty much always the best use of Gary Oldman. Of course, he probably is just referring to Gordon's expanded role.

There are some more spoilers at the link, and a few of these do actually seem decently plausible, based on what we've seen of the filming. Still, I'd advise taking this all with bountiful heapings of salt, particularly the stuff we haven't really heard before like the descriptions of the bomb and Catwoman's arc. [Comic Book Movie]

Much like his fellow Batman Begins villain Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson has been heavily rumored to be reprising his role as Ra's al Ghul for the third Batman movie, and depending on who you ask his appearance is all but confirmed. And while Murphy tends to respond to questions about his involvement with a smirking "no comment", Neeson apparently didn't even immediately remember he had even been in a Batman movie, when asked about a return appearance. So, while it's not definitive — nothing ever is with this movie — this probably leans towards Neeson not coming back for the final movie. Either way, Ra's al Ghul the character will appear in the film, as Josh Pence is already confirmed to be playing a younger version of him.[MTV]

Man of Steel 2

Clash of the Titans and Pacific Rim writer Travis Beacham, who was one of the three people named yesterday as a potential writer for the Man of Steel sequel, has tweeted this denial:

"I have not been approached. That said, I'd be thrilled. Supes is a pretty elemental influence for me."

Admittedly, it's pretty routine to deny everything at this early stage, but for now, I think it's probably just best to consider the rumor debunked. Of course, I reserve the right to change that opinion instantly, whenever I damn well please. [IGN]

The Avengers

Composer Alan Silvestri, who most recently did the score for Captain America, discusses how he'll approach the music for this movie:

"This is actually a very unique experience [for me]. I've worked on films where there have been a number of stars and certainly worked on films where there have been characters of equal weight in terms of their level of importance and profile in the film, but this one is somewhat extreme in that regard because each of these characters has their own world and it's a very different situation... It's very challenging to look for a way to give everyone the weight and consideration they need, but at the same time the film is really about the coming together of these characters, which implies that there is this entity called the Avengers which really has to be representative of all of them together."

Marvel Movies

One villainous character who isn't likely to show up in any Marvel movie is the Hulkbuster, at least according to Marvel concept artist Adi Granov. That's because the Hulkbuster designer already appeared in Iron Man, just as a different character:

In the first movie we had the Iron Monger, the idea for him came from the Hulkbuster. I did a cover with the Hulkbuster in it. Jon Favreau liked that design and asked me to draw something similar to it for the Iron Monger. So technically the Iron Monger is the Hulkbuster, and that I think is why for a while we won't see it in a movie. It would only be yet another Iron Man big type of armor.

Star Trek 2

A bunch of intriguing new details have surfaced for the Star Trek sequel — though they are of course all completely unofficial and should be taken with a grain of salt until we hear something more substantial. The start date for filming is reportedly January 15, 2012, and pre-production has already been underway for a few months, with writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof currently working of a third draft of the script that is mostly just tweaking what's already set. Scott Chambliss is back as production designer and working on new sets, as well as prepping sets used in the original film, such as the Enterprise interiors, while ILM is already working on effects shots, most of which are space shots.

The big new rumor is that the movie is looking for a location to be a "jungle planet", and J.J. Abrams reportedly personally traveled to Hawaii to scout locations there — an area he's familiar with, of course, from his time on Lost. A Los Angeles museum will also reportedly be standing in for a "famous Star Trek location", so fell free to speculate on what that could possibly refer to. The film is also described as "bigger in scope" than the first one... and the first one involved the destruction of multiple planets, so that's actually a relatively bold statement as far as meaningless pre-production cliches go. [Trek Movie]

After those relatively reasonable rumors, here's some more out there stuff for the adventurous spoiler hunter. Here's this account of the film's story, supposedly based on inside information:

The Klingons play a prominent role in Star Trek 2. The angle, according to our sources, plays up them up as a Nomadic sect of warrior aliens causing trouble for the Federation — think an intergalactic Taliban with their home-planet overrun by Tribbles. Yes, those Tribbles, here in the newly rebooted continuity viewed as "furry carnivorous creatures."

Although the Tribbles are in their own way an iconic part of Trek lore — after all, they're the crux of one of the franchise's funniest episodes and one of its best time travel stories — it's a bit hard to imagine them being played up as a serious threat, which the whole "carnivorous creatures" thing sort of implies. Though, of course, Klingons and Tribbles are ancient enemies... but no, that still just seems a bit too silly to be believed. Anyway, the same source also says that Khan definitely won't be in the film, which is the one part of this I find moderately convincing. [Think McFly Think]

Pacific Rim

Guillermo del Toro reveals that filming began this past Monday on his big monster movie, and he gives this encapsulation of the project:

We are working with actors that I absolutely adore. Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman. It's really, it's a very, very beautiful poem to giant monsters. Giant monsters versus giant robots. Twenty-five-story-high robots beating the crap out of 25-story-high monsters. We're trying to create a world in which the characters are real and how it would affect our world politically, how it would affect the landscape if creatures like this really came out of the sea, etc.

The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire

That probably won't be the exact title - we can only hope Lionsgate doesn't just blatantly rip off Twilight and say it's part of The Hunger Games Saga - but work is reportedly already underway on the adaptation of Suzanne Collins's second book in the trilogy. Simon Beaufoy, the writer of Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, and The Full Monty is reportedly the top choice to script the movie. The Hunger Games director Gary Ross is also reportedly going to return for the sequel... all assuming the first one makes money, of course. [Deadline]

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth, which subs out the goofiness of Brendan Fraser for the slightly more macho goofiness of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and also adds Michael Caine because he had a free weekend and felt like flying around on a giant CGI wasp, I guess.

The Six Billion Dollar Man

Bryan Singer is reportedly in talks to direct an inflation-adjusted reboot of The Six Million Dollar Man, and Leonardo DiCaprio has reportedly been approached to play Steve Austin. Singer's writers for his upcoming Jack the Giant Killer are reportedly the top choices to write the script. [IGN]

Bioshock

Creator Ken Levine explains why there's no rush to adapt the video game into a movie, and why he's not overly concerned about Gore Verbinski's attempted adaptation falling through:

We got very close to having it get made – we had a deal in place and a director. But for us there's no burning [desire] to have a movie made just to get it made. For us and for Take-Two, it's really got to be something that will a) give the fans something that they want, and b) for those who don't know BioShock, really introduce them to something that is consistent with the game, and is it going to be a good representation of the game. There are differences between games and movies, no doubt, but the movie has to draw from the same DNA in terms of the world and the story beats. But you know, we don't have a need to get it made.

The Fifth Element Sequel

Moving now to more ridiculous news, Tiny Lister - who played Galactic President Lindberg in the first movie - says that he's been talking with Ruby Rhod actor Chris Tucker about making a sequel. Which is all well and good, but I can't help but thinking those aren't the two crucial guys to getting this movie off the ground... though I could be talked into watching some sort of Lindberg/Ruby Rhod buddy cop movie in the 23rd century type thing. [The AV Club]

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Here's a South Korean poster spotlighting the return of Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler. [ComingSoon.net]

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Here's a new trailer for the latest from Aardman Animations, which looks just as ridiculously charming as Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and everything else they've ever done.

Phantom

Here's a poster for this horror movie about a rogue Soviet submarine captain and the possibly haunted submarine he commands. The movie at least sports an interesting cast in Ed Harris, William Fichtner, David Duchovny, Sean Patrick Flanery, Lance Henriksen, and Dagmara Dominczyk, and its tagline is the ominous "Something is down there." Anyway, here's a brief synopsis:

The Captain of a Soviet submarine holds the fate of the world in his hands. On a seemingly haunted vessel, with a rogue element on board, Captain Demi (Ed Harris) is forced to face his past in order to find redemption in the present. But, in the depths of the South Pacific, man and machine are not alone.

Twixt

Here's an international poster for Francis Ford Coppola's completely bonkers new movie, in which Val Kilmer solves a mystery with the help of Edgar Allan Poe's ghost... or something, I'm not sure anybody is really certain. [ShockTillYouDrop]

The Haunted Mansion

Guillermo del Toro says he has now turned in a screenplay of his new, presumably Eddie Murphy-free take on the Disney ride. [Wired]

Doctor Who

Here are some promo photos of Matt Smith for his upcoming appearance in Friday's Children in Need telethon. The bear is Pudsey, the event's mascot. [Blogtor Who]

The Walking Dead

One of Shane's biggest secrets — either his affair with Lori or his killing of Otis — will be revealed in this week's episode in an unpredictable way. Also, two characters will have sex for the first time, though hopefully those two tidbits aren't related somehow. [TV Line]

And here's another promo for the episode, entitled "Secrets."

Producer Gale Anne Hurd offers some more clues about what's ahead the rest of the way:

Obviously, the tensions are continuing to rise with the love triangle between Lori and Rick and Shane. You also have tension with people who didn't want to survive the CDC like Andrea. Is she going to embrace living now or is she going to look for another way to die? We also introduce new characters, like Herschel's farm. We not only have the new characters but the dynamics that those characters bring to our group.

Terra Nova

Once Upon a Time

Grimm

The show is currently looking for an actor in his early 40s to play a parole officer who also happens to run a secret, gladiator-style fight club for Grimms. [TV Line]

The Hulk

Guillermo del Toro confirmed that he is now turning in a full screenplay for a pilot episode to ABC. [Wired]

Supernatural

Here's another promo for tonight's episode, "How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters."

Here's a casting notice for an upcoming episode:

"Lydia is in her late 20s, is striking and attractive. She picks up a man and has a sizzling one-night stand with him. But afterwards, she's cold and indifferent — could that be because she's part of a strange cult?"

The Secret Circle

The Young and the Restless actor Michael Graziadei has reportedly been cast as Callum, "a good-looking but quick-tempered guy with deadly charm" whose behavior particularly worries Faye. Lord of War actor Sammi Rotibi has been cast as Eben, "ominous and authoritative leader of a dangerous group who's a true believer in his malevolent cause" who may or may not be the leader of the council. Both will debut in the twelfth episode, with the potential to become recurring after that. [TV Guide]